Sometimes, we wonder what we should eat before or after training. Is there an ideal meal? Does it depend on the exercise we do? These questions will be analyzed below.
To begin, let's look at what a pre-workout meal should include. This changes depending on whether we are doing aerobic or anaerobic exercise.
1. Aerobic exercise:
The purpose of the pre-workout meal is to charge energy stores, as well as to reduce protein catabolism that will occur with exercise. In addition, we want the meal to be easily digested. Good sources of carbohydrates, for loading the stores, are bread, pasta, rice, potato and cereals. We don't want the meal to contain a large amount of fat because it takes several hours for it to be digested. It is best to consume the meal on average 2 hours before training, but this can change depending on the type of exercise.
2. Anaerobic exercise:
The purpose is to reduce protein catabolism and increase muscle protein synthesis that will occur during exercise. So it is good to consume a meal rich in protein 3 hours before training.
Finally, it is important to be well hydrated, regardless of the type of exercise we will do.
Now let's see what the post-workout meal should include.
3 key elements are:
- Carbohydrates
- Protein
- Liquids
- Carbohydrates are necessary to replenish energy stores. Choose carbohydrates such as white pasta, white rice, white bread, potato etc. Carbohydrate consumption is imperative to replenish glycogen, which will provide you with the necessary energy for the next workout.
- Proteins are needed to repair muscle tissue. They are the structural component of muscles and thus their presence in the post-workout meal is imperative for their recovery. It is good to consume proteins of high biological value such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products.
- Drinking water is also necessary to restore fluids and electrolytes lost during training through sweat and urine.